Ghost Town of Mini Castles: How $200 Million in Turkey Turned Into an Empty Fairy Tale

In the middle of the picturesque hills of Turkey’s Bolu Province lies one of the world’s most unusual abandoned developments. Instead of familiar cottages, hundreds of identical mini-castles with towers and spires rise here, resembling the set of a fairy-tale film. Yet no permanent residents ever moved into these luxurious villas.

A resort for millionaires

The Burj Al Babas project, located near the town of Mudurnu, was conceived as an upscale settlement for wealthy buyers from the Gulf countries. Each three-storey villa, priced between $370,000 and $500,000, was designed in the style of 19th-century French châteaux. In addition to the residential houses, the developer planned to build a shopping street, a spa complex, Turkish baths, swimming pools and an entertainment center.

In total, Sarot Group intended to build 732 villas. The total investment in the project came to about $200 million.

Why construction stopped

Sales were initially successful: a significant share of the villas found buyers while construction was still underway. However, the situation changed sharply in 2018.

The Turkish lira suffered a major collapse, which worsened the developer’s financial position. At the same time, problems arose with contractors and creditors, as well as legal disputes with local residents. They opposed the deforestation and criticized the complex’s unusual architecture, saying it did not fit the region’s historical character.

In November 2018, Sarot Group filed for bankruptcy protection, after which construction effectively stopped.

587 castles without residents

Of the planned 732 villas, 587 were built, but most of them were never fully completed or put into operation. Today, dozens of rows of identical castles stand empty among the hills, turning into one of Turkey’s most unusual ghost towns.

Although the project owners have repeatedly said they intend to resume construction after restructuring the debt, several years later the complex remains unfinished.

A symbol of unfulfilled ambitions

Today Burj Al Babas is known not as an upscale resort, but as one of Turkey’s most unusual abandoned landmarks. Hundreds of empty castles regularly become the subject of shoots by photographers, bloggers and drone operators, and the complex itself has become a symbol of how a large-scale and expensive project can collapse under the pressure of an economic crisis, financial problems and planning miscalculations.